Three levels of risk when flying by country

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA, have compiled statistics and shown that the rate of flight incidents depends on the countries that tourists come from and depart from. The research team divided countries into three risk levels: low, medium and high, based on their aviation safety records.

The lowest risk group (level 1) includes countries in the European Union EU, Australia, Canada, China, Israel, Japan, Montenegro, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, the UK and the US.

Some countries in the level 2 or medium risk group include Bahrain, Bosnia, Brazil, Brunei, Chile, India, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey, the UAE, Taiwan and Hong Kong (China). The remaining countries are at level 3.The study found that at the first two levels, the risk of death from flying drops to 1 in 80 million, or one in 80 million passengers. At that rate, a passenger boarding a random flight every day for 220,000 years would have an average risk of dying in a plane crash.

The risk of death in level 3 countries is about 36% higher than in the other two levels, but the fatality rate is decreasing.

MIT researchers analyzed data on passenger travel and fatalities worldwide from 2018 to 2022. The results showed that the number of fatalities on planes has decreased by an average of 7% each year, as more flights take off and land. Accordingly, on average, there is only one fatality for every 13.7 million passengers.The study did not include intentional crashes, such as the suicide bombing at Kabul airport in 2021 that killed 170 Afghans and 13 US service members.

The announcement comes after Boeing faced a series of technical issues that forced the company to halt test flights of its 777-9 aircraft. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is said to have inspected the 787 Dreamliner due to a movement defect in the pilot seat.